<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>NCT- Of Love and War by nomin_nct_20</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27958349">NCT- Of Love and War</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomin_nct_20/pseuds/nomin_nct_20'>nomin_nct_20</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>NCT- of Love and War [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>EXO (Band), NCT (Band), SHINee, SuperM (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Spies &amp; Secret Agents, Arranged Marriage, Attempt at Humor, Betrayal, Blood and Injury, Crack, Drinking, Drinking to Cope, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Family Dynamics, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Geniuses, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, Lee Taemin is a Little Shit, M/M, Mark Lee (NCT) is Whipped, Married Life, Mutual Pining, Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Relationship Problems, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Swearing, Violence, Weapons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:22:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,806</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27958349</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomin_nct_20/pseuds/nomin_nct_20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Relationship problems.<br/>NCT is a secret service agency and rn they are going through some major shit</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Byun Baekhyun/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Nakamoto Yuta, Kim Jongin | Kai/Oh Sehun, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Liu Yang Yang, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Lee Taeyong/Qian Kun, Mark Lee/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>NCT- of Love and War [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2047580</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Trouble in paradise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>First work. Idek</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Past problems get in the way a bit.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Doyoung straightened his navy blue blazer, smoothing the non-existent wrinkles, before stepping through the grand front doors of the NCT building.</p>
<p>NCT, short for Neo City Technology, was a secret service of agents, assassins, and scientific and mechanical geniuses, based out of three main buildings across the world. One in Korea, China and New York. </p>
<p>The reason Doyoung was back at the office at 2 in the fucking morning, was that there was an emergency meeting called for all of NCT, meaning that every agent across the world had to drop whatever they were doing and race to the Korea building ASAP, unless they were otherwise occupied and unable to make it. </p>
<p>Thank his luck stars that Doyoung was based in the Korean building because god help him if he had to hop on a plane at 1 in the morning on such short notice, like the other two branches. </p>
<p>Everyone generally tried to avoid calling these meetings for several reasons.<br/>
1. It was a pain in the ass for everyone to get to one place in such a short time<br/>
2. It’s expensive<br/>
3. The Directors of each branch, don’t exactly get along with one another </p>
<p>In other words, these meetings never ended well. </p>
<p>Doyoung waited for the ding of the elevator bell to let him know that he had arrived no the 60th floor, and stepped out into the dark hallway, walking towards the only lit room at the end, only the sounds of his shoes on the marble floor and his slightly labored breathing (probably nerves). </p>
<p>Doyoung rushed towards the room, not wanting to be any later that he was already, and wanting to be in the room to stop the inevitable argument. </p>
<p>Too late. </p>
<p>Several shouts exploded from behind the doors to the conference room, and without even having to see who, Doyoung knew the owners of them. The first, Qian Kun, Director of the Chinese branch, and a very uptight man, even to Doyoung’s standards (that was saying something). </p>
<p>The second, Lee Taeyong, Director of the Korean branch and Chief Director of NCT. Taeyong was a very sensitive and easily angered man, for good reason, but putting those two in the same room was like throwing a lit match in a can of gas and hoping it doesn’t burn. </p>
<p>However, even though they were often at each other’s throats, sometimes literally, everyone knew that they had been pining for one another since their trainee days. </p>
<p>Doyoung cautiously stepped through the doors, prepared for any sort of attack. It’s happened. Last time the had called a meeting like this, Doyoung had a wine bottle thrown at him, and he didn’t intend on reliving that experience.</p>
<p>Per usual, Taeyong and Kun were both the only ones standing, shouting insults and obscenities at one another while the rest of the agents looked like they would rather be anywhere but in that room. Even Johnny, the Director of the North American Branch.</p>
<p>Even though he had just arrived, he was done listening to them bicker, and based off of the others expressions, they were feeling the same. </p>
<p>The two yelling idiots were so consumed in trying to hurt the other that they didn’t even notice Doyoung’s arrival.<br/>
Until they did. </p>
<p>“Gentlemen, if you don’t mind, we have a problem at hand and I think that others would agree that your bickering is anything but productive,” he said, drawing all eyes to him. “It’s 2 in the goddamn morning and the last thing we want to hear is you stupid lovers spat so sit.”</p>
<p>Doyoung was met with silence, looks of shock and admiration, and even a mouthed ‘thank you’ from Johnny. </p>
<p>Without another word, both Taeyong and Kun took their seats, not once taking their burning eyes off the other. </p>
<p>“Thank you, now may we get started,” Doyoung asked, taking his own seat to the left of Taeyong. He didn’t miss the eye roll from Jaemin on the other side of Taeyong, who was huffing himself. </p>
<p>Kun and Taeyong used to be really close, closer than most friends, and everyone knew that they had a thing for one another. It was quite possibly the worst kept secret in NCT. </p>
<p>What everyone else also knew, was why Taeyong was particularly harsh towards the Chinese man. More than others. </p>
<p>3 years ago, Taeyong, Jaemin, an agent named Hansol, and both of Taeyong’s parents were at the airport. His parents were both Korean representatives in the US, and about a week prior, there was a threat on their lives, and the life of Taeyong’s little brother, sent out by a group called EXO. </p>
<p>After some research, Taeyong found that it was a worldwide Mafia that was known for their business in political matters. </p>
<p>Not wanting to risk anything, Taeyong had his whole family under 24/7 surveillance, and the Director at the time made it a top priority. </p>
<p>Taeyong and Jaemin had gone into the airport to get their personal escorts, while the other 3 (Hansol, and TY’s parents) waited in the car. </p>
<p>There were some delays with security, and while the two waited, there was an explosion outside. They found the car completely destroyed and everyone within a 20 foot radius dead, including the three. </p>
<p>Jaemin and Taeyong were devastated, one losing his parents, having to deliver the news to his younger brother Jeno, and the other losing his first love. </p>
<p>As they stood in shock, looking at the spot where their loved ones were, not five minutes before, Jaemin spotted a man taking aim at Taeyong in a bush across the street. </p>
<p>He chased the shooter down, confident it was an EXO member, catching and pinning him within a minute. It seemed his rage and loss threw him over the edge, and he was only able to get the man’s name before losing patience and killing him on the spot. With his fists. Lu Han. That was the man’s name. </p>
<p>☽ -✵ ❦ ✵- ☾ </p>
<p>Doyoung heard the news about 30 minutes after it happened, and rushed down to the entrance of NCT to greet his grieving colleagues, joined by everyone else with the same idea. </p>
<p>The other branches arrived in the following hours to pay their respects. That night a group of them consisting of agents Taeyong, Doyoung, Jaemin, Johnny, Ten, Kun, Jaehyun, Renjun, Taeil, and Lucas, went out for drinks in remembrance. </p>
<p>Kun had much more to drink than usual, they all did, but he loses his filter when he’s drunk, letting out anything that comes to mind. Everyone was too intoxicated to stop him from saying anything stupid, but still conscious enough to understand him. </p>
<p>They were all wondering about who the fuck EXO was, since they had never heard of the mafia, but Kun decided to open his drunk trap and let all hell break loose. </p>
<p>“Damn it, we could have gotten something out of the EXO man if Jaemin hadn’t fucking killed him and if Taeyong was actually functioning enough to do anything other than stand and get shot at.”</p>
<p>Shit </p>
<p>Jaemin was passed out in the corner of their booth, having drunk a dangerous amount of alcohol. Taeyong however heard everything the Chinese man said, landing a ringed fist straight into Kuns face, breaking his nose with a sickening crack, before taking the butter knife laying on the table next to him and throwing it straight at Kun who was still nursing the fresh injury. </p>
<p>Luckily Taeyong was drunk, and missed Kun’s head by a mere half inch, but it was definitely enough to frighten him. “ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY!?” He shouted, standing up to glare at his attacker.</p>
<p> “Shut the FUCK up! Maybe I should go explode your parents and see if you’re ’functioning’,” Taeyong shot back, standing to match the other. </p>
<p>“If you lay a fucking hand on either of them, I will personally kill you,” Kun threatened, pulling out the butter knife from his chair, pointing it at Taeyong to back the threat. </p>
<p>“Well next time watch you goddamn mouth before you start spouting shit.” Taeyong was seething “You realize that I have to go home and tell Jeno that our parents are dead. Do you know how it feels to have to say something like that?” Taeyong went from angry back to a broken shell of the man he was the day before, sniffling around every other word. </p>
<p>Doyoung reached out to help him sit down, lest the man shut down at any second and collapse. </p>
<p>Kun, having seen the younger man break down in front of him, placed the knife back on the table and sat in silence. </p>
<p>Contrarily, Taeyong slapped all helping hands away, the anger returning into his expression. ”You’re lucky I’m drunk Qian.“ He stood and left the abandoning the bar, and all of his friends, shouting “you’d be dead under any other circumstances,“ over his shoulder as he did. </p>
<p>It was silent for a while, no one wanting to disrupt the silence at their table and be the first to speak. </p>
<p>”Could someone follow him? Make sure he stays safe?” Taeil asked from the unoccupied corner of the booth. </p>
<p>”I can,” Doyoung offered, standing and grabbing his coat. He was close with Taeyong and knew what to do should anything happen. </p>
<p>This was as much for the other people’s safety, as it was for Taeyongs. Lord help whoever was close to him if and when he lost control.</p>
<p>Luckily when Doyoung found him, Taeyong was sitting silently off the road in a small dark alley. </p>
<p>Even through the darkness of night, he could see the trembles with every ragged breath. ”He didn’t mean it you know,” Doyoung said gently, crouching down next to his friend. “He’s drunk, you know how he gets.” </p>
<p>”No, he just spouts whatever comes to mind,“ Taeyong wasn’t as angry as before but there was still a raging fire in him that Doyoung could hear through his raspy whispers. “Even if he wasn’t he would still think it, and just let me believe that he cares.“<br/>
“You know he cares,“ everyone but Taeyong seemed to see that. </p>
<p>“He cares about success. He cares about the mission. But not me.” Taeyong broke down again, as Doyoung prepared himself for the emotional rollercoaster that he had just strapped himself into.</p>
<p>When they first became friends, Taeyong had confided to Doyoung about his crush on the Chinese agent, and Doyoung had guarded it with his life, except for the fact that pretty much everyone knew, but the two.</p>
<p>“He cares about you. I know you know he does.” Doyoung wrapped a comforting arm around his best friend. “He’s not thinking straight, and neither are you.” </p>
<p>Taeyong muttered something incomprehensible next to him, before letting out an involuntary shiver.</p>
<p>Doyoung wrapped his winter coat around the man, picking him up and carrying him back to their shared apartment.</p>
<p>☽ -✵ ❦ ✵- ☾</p>
<p>“What is the purpose of this meeting?” Taeil asked form the head of the table. The oldest agent was one that was respected throughout the agency, and even though he wasn’t a director, everyone knew that it was by his own choice that he was in charge of IT.</p>
<p>“EXO...” </p>
<p>There were low murmurs among the different members present. EXO was a sensitive topic in NCT, especially after what happened 3 years ago.</p>
<p>“They’re planning a bombing on the Korean building,” Jaehyung spoke up.</p>
<p>“When?” Doyoung asked what he knew everyone was wondering.</p>
<p>“We don’t know the exact date, but we do know that it will be sometime in February.” Mark said.</p>
<p>That gave them approximately a month and a half to prepare.</p>
<p>“How did you acquire this information?” Kun asked, resting his chin on his propped hands, seemingly deep in thought. “Is it a reliable source?”</p>
<p>“Do you not trust them Qian,” Taeyong snapped, not missing an opportunity to jab at the fellow director.</p>
<p>“I trust them more than I trust you, Lee,” Kun shot back.</p>
<p>Doyoung could see everyone deflate at the thought of another argument breaking out.</p>
<p>“Trust?! If anyone here isn’t trustworthy it is you!” Taeyong’s was standing again, Kun following soon after, standing up with so much force that his chair fell backwards creating a loud smack.</p>
<p>Some of the agents jumped at the sudden sound, feeling the tension between the rivals like a standoff for dominance.</p>
<p>“Wanna go a couple rounds? You’ve softened over the years,” Kun was pulling out one of his many knives from within his blazer, tightly gripping the hilt ready to attack.</p>
<p>“Fuc-“</p>
<p>“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Johnny was now standing, and if the other agents weren’t afraid before, they were shitting themselves now. Johnny was almost never angry, being the laid back and calm one of the three leaders. “SIT BOTH OF YOUR ASSES IN YOUR CHAIRS AND FOR ONCE, TRY TO AT LEAST GET THROUGH THE CONVERSATION WITHOUT TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER!”</p>
<p>Taeyong and Kun sat silently, having the brains to look a little guilty.</p>
<p>“Now that you two idiots are done wasting our time, back to the topic at hand.” Johnny straightened his suit coat and continued, “We were give word from a friend in the US that EXO was planning an attack in the form of a bombing on the Korean Building in February some time. We were also told that their leader, Byun Baekhyun, can be found out a a certain bar every Sunday night. Once we decide who will be deployed after him, I will share the location, but until then this meeting is over. Both the North American branch, and the Chinese branch will be staying here until after the threat had passed.” </p>
<p>Johnny looked down on Taeyong, giving him a stern glare before mirroring the action to Kun.</p>
<p>“I suggest that you two find a way to be in the same room with one another because we’ll be together for a while.” And with that he dismissed himself, the North American agents following.</p>
<p>Soon everyone but Taeyong, Doyoung, and Jaemin were left in the room.</p>
<p>“Tae, calm down.” The Director was having some form of a break down and it was not the time. “He’s fine, it’s nothing that you guys don’t already do.”</p>
<p>After the incident between the two, Taeyong hadn’t ever forgiven Kun, opting to ignore all apologies until their relationship became hostile and what it is now.</p>
<p>“Jaemin, could you please take him back to his apartment. I have some business to attend to.”</p>
<p>“Yeah sure, whatever.” Jaemin smirked, wrapping an arm around Taeyong and leaving.</p>
<p>Doyoung sighed. He only had two hours before he would have to get ready for the day, and with what he just heard, there was no way that he was going to get anymore sleep, so he decided to go to his office and get a head start on the work for the day.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Breakups</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Taeyong and Kun have a rough night</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry this took so long to post. I had written the whole chapter, but ended up not liking it and rewrote the whole thing.</p>
<p>thanks for the everything!</p>
<p>BTW: I will also be starting another story soon but idk yet. I’ll prob post abt it when I post the first chapter thanks!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I’m all in,” Jeno challenged, carefully pushing in the large stack of chips that he had collected over the past 2 and a half hours. To be completely honest, he was ready for this game to end, hence the reason he was willingly shoving in the money, knowing fully that he was going to lose.</p>
<p>Jeno was something of a master at poker, having developed the skill over his hours alone in his apartment when he wasn’t studying, and was bored of the TV.</p>
<p>Haechan, who was relatively new to the game, eyed him suspiciously, also sensing the bluff being played. </p>
<p>“Ok….” the other looked between his cards and the chips in the middle, seemingly debating whether or not to play. “I follow,” he answered after another ten seconds of thinking. “On three,”</p>
<p>“One,”</p>
<p>“Two,”</p>
<p>“Three,” Jeno said, turning over his hand to show a measly pair of 5s.</p>
<p>Haechan on the other hand, had a straight flush, startling Jeno. Maybe there were some good things about being bad at poker. Haechan had been slow playing Jeno without even knowing it, having not bet a single thing more than Jeno.</p>
<p>“You win, although I’m not sure why you didn’t end it earlier,” Jeno said, smiling at his friend. </p>
<p>“I don’t know,” Haechan shrugged, “I thought you had something better than me.”</p>
<p>Not completely wrong.</p>
<p>Jeno had started the round with cards that were incredibly close to a royal flush. Lucky cards.</p>
<p>But knowing that he was sure to sweep the rest of his friend’s money, Jeno sabotaged the rare cards, opting to let his friend win so he didn’t have to pay for dinner.</p>
<p>Jeno knew that Haechan was struggling to support himself, but lately something seemed off. He seemed thinner, more tired than usual and Jeno knew that things weren’t going well. </p>
<p>Jeno was also the son of two Korean representatives that were in the US, making well over 9 figures a year. Yeah… 9 figures.</p>
<p>After his parents deaths,  Jeno and his older brother Taeyong were left with a ridiculous amount of money that they didn’t know what to do with.</p>
<p>So Jeno did the only thing he felt he could, by donating most of it to various charities for various causes. One of those being Haechan.</p>
<p>His friend never accepted money directly, so Jeno would pull things like he just did, and purposefully lose at things he would otherwise win at, just so his friend wouldn’t have to pay for something like his dinner or tickets to an event. It was all he could do.</p>
<p>“Pizza sound good?” Jeno asked, taking out his phone and entering the UberEats app.</p>
<p>“Nah, I want something expensive. Something fancy.” Haechan tried his best to hide the excitement in his voice, but failed terribly.</p>
<p>Jeno would never know, but Haechan wasn’t exactly who he said he was. He knew that Jeno had no idea what his older brother Taeyong did for a living, only that he was Jeno’s legal guardian for another 5 months before Jeno became a legal adult.</p>
<p>Haechan on the other hand, knew exactly what Taeyong did. In fact, he did the same thing.</p>
<p>Haechan was ‘assigned’ to keep an eye on Jeno and any potential threats on his life, by Taeyong who was his, and everyone else’s boss at NCT. </p>
<p>After their parents deaths, Taeyong wasn’t taking any chances with his little brother’s life, so here Haechan was, pretending to be a starving boy from the poor side of Seoul, while Jeno constantly tried to help.</p>
<p>There was a reason that Haechan never accepted Jeno’s generous donations, because he didn’t actually need it. </p>
<p>Of course Jeno didn’t know about this. And he could never, but Haechan knew that his friend had started to suspect something when Haechan would desperately try and steer Jeno away from anything regarding where he ‘lived’ and what he did for a living</p>
<p>“How about pasta?” Jeno offered. “There’s a really good Italian place that I used to go to all the time,”</p>
<p>Haechan nodded, stomach grumbling like it knew the food was on the way.</p>
<p>———————————————————————</p>
<p>Both boys ended up ordering enough food for a small army, eating most of it, then storing the rest in the refrigerator.</p>
<p>After they ate their hearts out, they moved to the couch to play PUB G. Now, this is where Haechan dominated. </p>
<p>It had been around 45 minutes into their gaming, more like Jeno’s losing, when he felt his phone vibrate on the cushion next to him, but chose to ignore it.</p>
<p>Haechan, letting the curiosity get the best of him, looked at the screen reading the name of his boss in the center. “Are you going to answer that? It’s Taeyong,” Haechan asked.</p>
<p>Jeno paused the game, turning to pick up the still ringing phone. “Hello?” There was a slight tint of worry in his face and voice. Jeno knew that his older brother’s job was something physical from the countless times that he returned with varying injuries and marks, and that he really only called for emergencies.</p>
<p>‘Hey,’ his brother’s voice answered from the other end of the line. Jeno wasn’t sure if he was hearing things, but he thought that it sounded almost like Taeyong was crying.</p>
<p>“Is everything okay?” Now there was definite worry in Jeno’s voice. Haechan, having heard the desperation in his friend's voice, looked up from his phone, his expression mirroring that of his friend’s.</p>
<p>‘Uh- yeah.’ There was definitely something wrong. ‘I just called to check up on you.’ Taeyong’s voice came through, scratchy and definitely upset, though at what Jeno had no idea.</p>
<p>‘Is Hyuck still there?’</p>
<p>“Yeah,” who was Hyuck? “we were just handing out like usual. Why?” Jeno decided to let the name pass for now, especially since it was probably a mistake made due to whatever was bothering Taeyong.</p>
<p>‘Nothing, just checking. I’ll be home late tonight, so don’t wait up for me.’</p>
<p>“Ok,” Jeno agreed, even though he and Taeyong both knew that he wasn’t going to listen.</p>
<p>Right then, he saw Haechan look down at his phone after receiving a message. Jeno couldn’t really read it from his spot across the coffee table, but he could see the caps, and Haechans shift in attitude. It said something about ten, and being lost, whatever that meant.</p>
<p>He gave his friend a questioning look, and the only response he got was a mouthed ‘got to go’</p>
<p>Jeno nodded, waving as Haechan stood, and turned his attention back to his distressed brother on the phone. “Actually, Haechan is leaving right now.” Jeno said into the phone, just to let Taeyong know.</p>
<p>‘Ok.”</p>
<p>“Are you sure you’re ok. You sound stressed.’’</p>
<p>Taeyong was never that great of a liar, at least with Jeno he wasn’t, and this time was no different. ‘Yeah, just work stress.’ It was so obvious something was off.</p>
<p>‘Seriously though, don’t wait up for me. If I find you awake when I get home, Jeno Lee, there will be hell to pay.” </p>
<p>Taeyong had always been fussy over Jeno’s health and sleep, completely disregarding the fact that he himself barely got 2 hours of sleep if he was lucky.</p>
<p>The line went dead, and Jeno just sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, trying to think of all possible causes of his brother's distress.</p>
<p>When he came up short on anything realistic, he decided that he should probably do something productive while waiting for Taeyong to get home.</p>
<p>Jeno looked over at the clock resting on the wall, reading the time 12:43 am. It was a good thing that he was used to something like this and had no problem waiting for Taeyong.</p>
<p>He took out the heavy book titled, Clinical Oriented Anatomy, placing it on the coffee table before retrieving his various notebooks and materials from his school bag.</p>
<p>——————————————————————————</p>
<p>After another 2 hours of waiting and studying, Jeno was beginning to feel the drowsiness creep in and was debating just going to bed.</p>
<p>Luckily, it was only another 5 minutes before Jeno heard the elevator bell ring, announcing his brother’s arrival. He looked up and saw Taeyong step into their grand living room, his eyes red and swollen, and his breath ragged. Even from across the room, Jeno could feel the stress radiating from his brother who had moved into the kitchen, not yet noticing Jeno’s presence.</p>
<p>“Yeah, sure, totally ok,” Jeno said, standing up and making his way towards Taeyong, who jumped at the sudden noise.</p>
<p>“What the hell Jen, I thought I told you not to wait up,” Taeyong said, his aura immediately shifting into something lighter, trying to mask the distress underneath. But it was already too late for that, Jeno having seen the way his brother looked like he was carrying the word on his shoulders, ready to break at any second.</p>
<p>“Don’t do that.” He only received a confused look, making him roll his eyes. “Don’t pretend to be ok when you’re not. I know something’s wrong, you can’t hide that from me. I’m supposed to be able to help you, to be there for you , but how can I do that if you shut yourself out every time I try?”</p>
<p>Taeyong’s mask was still up, but Jeno could see the cracks creep in. “Tae,” the nickname seemed to hit something as his older brother broke down in tears, leaning into Jeno.</p>
<p>He’d never seen his older brother like this, vulnerable and upset. When he did see Taeyong, which was rare, he was always the steady one, the mature one that let Jeno spill everything and never once discussing his own feelings.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, It’s just....” Taeyong was sniffling into Jeno’s shoulder, who was much taller, so it was hard to reach his neck comfortably. “I’m supposed to be the strong one,”</p>
<p>Jeno was slowly breaking down hearing his older brother break down so badly in front of him. “You can still talk to me.”</p>
<p>Taeyong  was silent for a while, probably trying to calm himself enough to speak, then whispered “It’s over…” at first Jeno was confused, not knowing exactly what Taeyong was talking about, but then it hit him. </p>
<p>Something that would cause Taeyong to break down so desperately. Ironically, Jeno had guessed earlier but came to the conclusion that they were so close and well off that there was no way, but now he understood.</p>
<p>“Jaehyun,” just to confirm Jeno’s suspicions, Taeyong continued to explain the cause of this particular situation. “He’s done with me. Said I’m not really in love with him. That I should be with someone else.”</p>
<p>Jeno could feel anger boil up from his chest, becoming protective over his older brother, cursing the boy who broke his heart.</p>
<p>Taeyong looked up, tears streaming down his face, eyes swollen and desperate, almost like he could feel Jeno’s anger. “No, no. He was incredibly nice about it, and I understand he should end it, I just never thought we would end.”</p>
<p>The statement was supposed to take away the anger but it only grew. But now was not the time to explode. Now was the time to comfort his brother but he couldn’t really control the protective instinct. “Is there anything I can do?”</p>
<p>“No, and I couldn’t have you do anything to him.”</p>
<p>Jeno had never personally met Jaehyun, being one of the mystery parts about what Taeyong did, so Jeno assumed that they worked together, but in a case like this one, that was anything but helpful. He wanted so badly to be able to take away Taeyong’s pain like he had done for Jeno so many times before, but he couldn’t without coming up on some block by the unknown. It infuriated more than you would believe.</p>
<p>“Taeyong,” Jeno said, gathering his brothers attention. “Can you please tell me what you do. There are so many things I could do if I knew.” He knew the effort was futile, but it was worth a shot.</p>
<p>“Now’s not the time-”</p>
<p>“It’s never the time, you keep telling me that you will, when I;m older, when I;m ready.” Jeno was slowly growing upset again. They had had this argument at least a million times and Jeno was given the same answer every time without fail. “I’ll be a legal adult in just a couple of months. What is so bad about your job that you can’t tell me?”</p>
<p>“Everything,” </p>
<p>Ugh! This was pointless.</p>
<p>“Just tell me! I could help-”</p>
<p>“On your birthday.”</p>
<p>Jeno just stared down at him in silence. “What?’</p>
<p>“I’ll tell you once you’re an adult.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t what Jeno was expecting to hear, but he couldn’t say no to something like that, so he nodded in response accepting the offer.</p>
<p>“Now go to bed, you have school tomorrow.” Taeyong chided, laughing lightly as Jeno rolled his eyes at his brothers insistent nagging.</p>
<p>“Ok mom,” Jeno joked, “You too, otherwise I don't know if you’ll wake up tomorrow.”</p>
<p>They both just laughed it off, before Taeyong broke down into another wave of sobs and ended up falling asleep on the couch next to Jeno.</p>
<p>---------------------------------------</p>
<p>(The same day)<br/>
The music was deafening, the deep bass making Kun’s skull feel like it would explode every time it hit. The club was definitely not his favorite place to be, the crowds of sweating bodies, and the mixed smell of alcohol and body musk, like a fog every time you try to take a breath.</p>
<p>But he was there for Ten. His Ten.</p>
<p>There were also some other people there. Johnny, Jaemin, Jungwoo, Lucas, Taeil, and surprisingly Doyoung were all sitting at the table with him. Like him, Doyoung often preferred the silence of his room, or at least not so many people but after the news that they had received early that morning, everyone needed a drink.</p>
<p>“SHOTS!” Johnny shouted, as he brought over a tray of small glasses filled with an amber liquid. Kun would usually refuse, but he was the first to reach for one, desperate to get the meeting out of his head.</p>
<p>Not just the meeting. But Taeyong specifically.</p>
<p>The man was insufferable, and aggressive, for a reason Kun can’t really remember that well. He knew that their hostility towards one another was initiated by himself one drunken night, but he couldn’t count how many times he had apologized to his ex best friend for something that he didn’t even remember, being rejected with shouts and insults every time.</p>
<p>The efforts became tiring and eventually he had stopped trying to get Taeyong back altogether, letting them grow apart.</p>
<p>Once everyone grabbed their glasses, they clashed them together in the middle, before downing it in one and grabbing another.</p>
<p>----------------------------------</p>
<p>Kun couldn’t remember how many drinks he had had that night, but he could feel the buzz of alcohol burn through him, and an unfamiliar haze, cloud the corner of his thoughts.</p>
<p>Ten had just gotten up to get everyone more shots, and as soon as his boyfriend left his side, Kun found his mind unintentionally wandering to Taeyong, how his bright red hair matched his angry glares, yet how it seemed so perfect at the same time.</p>
<p>Realizing the thoughts going through his head, Kun snapped himself out of it, looking over his shoulder to search for Ten.</p>
<p>He was expecting to find the man standing at the bar waiting for the bartender to get them their very large portion of drinks, but instead he found him with another, pressed closely into him. There was a complete stranger openly flirting with Ten, and the latter was doing nothing to stop it.</p>
<p>Kun, thinking the alcohol was messing with his head, blinked hoping the man would disappear.</p>
<p>Surely Ten wouldn’t do that to him.</p>
<p>But when he opened his eyes again, he immediately wished he hadn’t. Now instead of just pressing up against Ten, they were openly making out, Ten seeming to enjoy the attention.</p>
<p>Kun’s heart faltered, not feeling the hot tears pool at the corner of his brown eyes. Doyoung saw him, and followed his gaze to the bar. ‘Oh’</p>
<p>Kun stood, making his way towards the cheating bastard, and completely disregarded all others in the room, vision zeroed in on the two men at the bar. There was a rare rage that flared up in Kun seeing his boyfriend, his baby, leaned up against a complete stranger.</p>
<p>Yeah, he may get angry, he may get upset, especially with Taeyong, but that is more of a front, more of a defense mechanism than anything.</p>
<p>This was different, Kun felt a mix of disappointment, anger, and especially betrayal, towards both men. He just prayed that someone would stop him when he finally got his hands on the drunk motherfuckers.</p>
<p>Actually, no he didn’t.</p>
<p>“Ten!” His boyfriend jumped up at the call of his name, confusion in his eyes at first, until those eyes landed on his very angry and quickly approaching boyfriend. Then they it was fear and… guilt? Sorrow? Shame?</p>
<p>Kun didn’t know and didn’t care. He went up to the stranger, looking down at the shorter man, sneering to get the message across that he was quite ready to kill at that moment.</p>
<p>“Who are you?” The man said looking Kun up and down, similar to what he had just done. </p>
<p>What the FUCK? Who the hell did this fucker think he was, letting his nasty ass hands wander over his boyfriend, then act like nothing happened. “I believe I’m the one who should be asking you that. Why the fuck did you have you’re hands-“ he started then remembered that the two were actually making out, “and mouth, all over my boyfriend.”</p>
<p>“That’s my business. If you have a problem with that, ask him,” the stranger smirked, nodding his head in Ten’s direction, who looked like he wanted to die on the spot.</p>
<p>“I’ll talk to him later,” Kun snarled, turning to face the stranger again. “I’ll give you one chance to give me a reason not to murder you here and now,”</p>
<p>The stranger’s smirk only widened at hearing the threat. Who was this guy?</p>
<p>“I can tell you, you’ll regret it if you try,”</p>
<p>Kun, curious to see his reaction, took a drink from the stranger next to him, splashing it over the man. He recognized the $300 shirt the man was wearing, him having the same one in his closet. This would certainly piss off someone with such taste, it would certainly piss Kun off.</p>
<p>To his delight, the man stood in shock as he looked at the deep red now spreading across his shirt like a wildfire in a drought.</p>
<p>“Do you know how much that cost?”</p>
<p>“Mhm,” Kun smirked as he pulled the glass to his lips, finishing off the remains of the drink before placing it back on the counter.</p>
<p>It was a good thing that Kun was prepared for a fight, otherwise the man may have gotten the jump on him.</p>
<p>Not like it would have mattered in the end.</p>
<p>The man swung a fist, directly at Kun’s face, and if he were any other person, the man probably would have landed a good blow. But he wasn’t, and he saw realization flash in the stranger’s eyes as Kun brought his hand up, fast as light, catching the fist mid swing, smirking at the others bewildered expression.</p>
<p>The man swung again with the opposite hand, this time aiming for his gut. Kun simply stepped out of reach, before twisting the stranger’s arm in, and flipping him in almost a perfect 360 before the man landed flat on his ass.</p>
<p>The anger and risen confidence that Kun had acquired throughout the exchange fueled his attacks as he continuously battered the man on the ground, blatantly disregarding his boyfriend’s, no ex-boyfriend’s protests.</p>
<p>He had drawn a crowd, and the attention of both his colleagues and the security was inevitable, so Kun wasn’t surprised when he felt several pairs of strong hands at his back, pulling him away from the now unconscious man laying on the ground in front of him.</p>
<p>“What the fuck is wrong with you?” A voice that he recognized as Johnny’s whispered in his ear. “You could be exposed if they bring you to the police.”</p>
<p>“It’s none of your business,” Kun spat, shaking out of Johnny’s grasp. “Don’t act like you’d be any different.”</p>
<p>Johnny was silent at that, and Kun turned around to face Ten, who was still standing there in partial shock. “And you, I hope you get it through your thick head that we’re over.”</p>
<p>Ten’s face crumpled up, tears forming in his eyes. The man dashed into the crowd, disappearing like he did best, but Kun couldn’t care less, in his drunken state.</p>
<p>Ten had cheated. Ten. Who he thought would be with him for eternity, blatantly betrayed him in a time where he knew he was needed the most.<br/>
————————————————————</p>
<p>The remaining agents had been sitting silently in their booth, not wanting to address the mess that had just occurred. It had been about 10 minutes since Ten ran, and no one had a clue where he went.</p>
<p>“Someone send out a search party.” Doyoung instructed, and Kun saw Jaemin take out his phone to text the other agents. “We can’t have him doing the second stupid thing of the night.” He said, sending a fiery glare at Kun.</p>
<p>The latter just rolled his eyes, grabbing his drink and downing the rest in one go. He was gonna be in hell tomorrow at this rate. </p>
<p>“I just texted hyuck, so he should be taking out a party any second, if he’s back from Tae’s place.”</p>
<p>Kun silently wondered if his sworn enemy was having a better night than him.</p>
<p>Probably.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Enemies to Friends, Friends to Lovers, Lovers to Enemies</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Take a guess</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry this took waaaayyyy too long. I was<br/>1. Busy with school and other shit<br/>2. I’m releasing my first nomin story soon!</p>
<p>Thanks for the patience and all the love!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The biting winter air stung Ten’s lungs and tear-stained face as he weaved through bundles of pedestrians on the sidewalk, not for one second, caring about the stares he was receiving from them, or the woosh of the passing cars as he ran.</p>
<p>When Kun had lost his shit on the man, who’s name Ten honestly couldn’t even remember, Ten was frozen in shock like the idiot he was. He had only ever seen Kun so mad at Taeyong when their “breakup” so to speak, was still fresh. After Taeyong lost his parents, and Kun had fucked up their friendship, Ten was the one that he went to for comfort. He was Kun’s distraction from reality. His way out. It hurt, yet felt impossibly good at the same time.</p>
<p>Maybe that’s all he was to him. A break from reality. Something to take his mind off of the hurt of losing his best friend.</p>
<p>Well, then again, Ten was the one who was just kissing a complete stranger.</p>
<p>Who would Kun turn to now? Now that his only way out had betrayed him, the same as the first. Would he go back to Taeyong? Somehow make it up to him, fix the unfixable, all while Ten watched from the distance, drowning in his own self hatred and pity in the shadows.</p>
<p>It should have been the other way around. It was always bound to end in betrayal. Both of them knew it would, but Ten always thought that Kun would be the one to commit the crime, to take the blame for their failing relationship.</p>
<p>Yet here he was, alone in the dark streets of Seoul, trying to outrun his own guilt as if it hadn’t already caught him.</p>
<p>Ten turned down some random alley, stopping to catch his breath for the first time since he bolted out of the bar like a coward. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he left, his still drunken mind preventing him from doing any real thinking.</p>
<p>He leaned back against the brick wall of the small shop he was hiding behind, letting his body relax a bit. He knew there would be search parties everywhere at one point or another, and in his current state, he would definitely be found unlike usual.</p>
<p>‘Well, if I’m gonna wait for someone to find me,” Ten thought, ‘May as well enjoy it.’ With that he got up from his place in the damp alley and walked down the street, planning on stopping in the first bar he could find. </p>
<p>Luckily said bar wasn’t too far and Ten stumbled his way over to the counter, plopping on one of the many stools. “Hey, what can I get ya?” the bartender asked, tiredness and boredom leaking into the statement.</p>
<p>“Whatever’s strongest,” Ten dropped his head, which felt like it was made of lead, onto the counter.</p>
<p>He sat in silence, listening to the background music and chatter of the people around him while he waited. Luckily in that time period, no one had approached him, or even looked at him, and he was thankful. The last thing he wanted at that moment, besides seeing Kun, was to relive the cause of this whole ass mess.</p>
<p>“Rough night?” the bartender asked when he returned, drink in hand.</p>
<p>“You have no idea,” Ten slurred, downing the liquid in one go, then proceeding to cough at the abnormally strong burn of whatever he was drinking.</p>
<p>-----------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>It had to be around 2 in the morning, if not later, and Ten was still at the same bar, probably the most hammered he’s ever been. And that's saying something.</p>
<p>The bartender had cut off a rather fussy Ten, after another 5 shots of whatever terrible liquid he had requested. Now he was a sobbing pile of clothes, barely staying on the barstool. He had gone to the bar to forget, to drown out the feelings of guilt, yet found himself spilling everything to the poor bartender before breaking down into the mess he is now.</p>
<p>Ten doesn’t know how long ago that was, and didn’t really care. He was alone in the bar (except for the bartender), but he was alone internally. He longed for a familiar face that would smile and take away his worries, for comforting words that would soothe his mind which was just about ready to cave in on itself. Just something to take away the pain of what he had done. </p>
<p>It wasn’t like he was too drunk to understand what was happening. He knew exactly what the touches and flirts would lead to, and what made things worse was he didn’t care. That’s what hurt the most, and Ten couldn’t even swallow his own pride to apologize to his boyfriend who was probably in more pain than he was at that moment.</p>
<p>He didn’t know whether it was exhaustion or the alcohol, but Ten swore he heard his name from somewhere behind him. Probably a mix of both to be honest…</p>
<p>“Ten? Is that you,” ok this time he was sure that it was real, the voice was much closer and clearer this time around.</p>
<p>He looked up from the counter to peer over his shoulder at whoever was talking to him. At first he didn’t know where to look but he soon spotted a very tall and broad figure approaching him. </p>
<p>Other than Jaehyun, who still wasn’t that tall, or Lucas who didn’t have such a muscular figure, no one else would have fit the description, and the hint of an american accent gave away their identity anyways. “J-johnny?” Ten called out hoping that his intuition served him well.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Johnny was now leaning against the counter looking at Ten sympathetically and something else that he couldn’t quite place. “How are you do-” he cut of the stupid quiestion, and Ten was thankful dince he didn’t really feel like talking about it.</p>
<p>“Howed you f-ind meee” he slurred, lazily looking at the taller agent.</p>
<p>“You left some tracks here and there,” Johnny smirked, holding up Ten’s phone which he didn’t even realize was gone. “After i found this, it wasn’t too hard to figure out where you went, so I just checked every bar around,”</p>
<p>It was logical enough, so Ten just shrugged it off, placing his head back on the counter.</p>
<p>“C’mon, let’s get you up,” Johnny said, standing to help Ten stand.</p>
<p>“I don’t wanna go back,” Ten whined while refusing to get up. “I- I can’nt see heem, not yet,”</p>
<p>“Who said I was taking you back to the office,” Johnny smirked. The older placed a supporting hand on either side of Ten’s torso to help him stand. The other placed his feet on the floor, but as he pushed off the stool to get up, he found himself immediately collapsing, as if his legs were Jelly. Luckily Johnny had been expecting something similar to happen so in one smooth motion Ten was swept off the ground into the older’s strong arms, and was now being carried bridal style out of the bar.</p>
<p>It was bitter cold outside, and Ten’s body involuntarily snuggled closer into the other, chasing his warmth as he was carried down the emptying Seoul streets.</p>
<p>“Wh-Where ar-re you t-tak-king me-e,” He shivered, looking up at Johnny. He noticed a slight flush spread across his tan cheeks, and Ten wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or something else, but it seemed to brighten the longer he stared.</p>
<p>He probably would have thought something of it if he wasn’t so drunk.</p>
<p>“I’m taking you to my place.” he stated simply. Now it was Ten’s turn to flush. </p>
<p>Ten nodded, tucking his head into Johnny’s warm chest, and he wasn’t sure when, but eventually fell asleep in the other’s arms.</p>
<p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>Kun wasn’t sure where to go. He didn’t want to go back to his and Ten’s shared apartment back at the office. He wanted to be as far as possible from all things Chittaphon.</p>
<p>Many other agents offered to house him for the time being, but he wasn’t entirely comfortable with that either seeing as most of them were Korean members under Taeyong.</p>
<p>Speaking of the korean director, Kun hadn’t seen or heard from him all night. Well, it shouldn’t matter anyways since they still weren’t on speaking terms.</p>
<p>Kun could hardly control the anger still in him from what he had seen earlier, and thinking about Taeyong certainly wasn’t helping that anger. He knew Ten was reckless when he was drunk, but something in him snapped, seeing his love making out with a complete stranger, who was a jackass might he add, and not giving a shit for what Kun may think.</p>
<p>Ten was supposed to be there for him as he struggled with fixing his friendship with Taeyong. He wasn’t supposed to be the one betraying him like that, especially in front of all of those other agents.</p>
<p>If it had been under other circumstances, Kun would have never let himself go like that, knowing the risks that he was taking. If any of them were caught by the police, they would be arrested and the entire agency would be outed. That was something that he couldn’t do.</p>
<p>He took out his phone, checking the time.</p>
<p>2:45 am</p>
<p>Great, he was going to be utterly exhausted tomorrow, most of them would be.</p>
<p>Kun scrolled through his contacts looking for one name in particular. He knew that it was a waste of time seeing as the other would never pick up a call from him, but he needed to talk and there was no one else to go to. Taeil was gone already, Johnny went to find Ten, and well… He wasn’t really comfortable with anyone else.</p>
<p>He placed the device to his ear,  hearing the familiar ring coming through the speakers.</p>
<p>Once<br/>Twice<br/>Third</p>
<p>He kept it at his ear, silently hoping that the other would pick up.</p>
<p>Nope</p>
<p>The call went to voicemail, as expected, giving the beep for him to speak.</p>
<p>Kun sat there in silence for a couple seconds, trying to think of something to say.</p>
<p>“Taeyong…” he started, “I need to talk to you,”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>